The Winslow conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Winslow have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and my previous Winslow lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Winslow. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Clydesdale have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is Clydesdale your lawyer must follow the conveyancing requirements outlined in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Clydesdale. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook sets out minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Clydesdale where a lease does not satisfy these provisions. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not limited to Winslow.
I currently have a mortgage with Santander for my property in Winslow. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Santander?
Your original mortgage agreement with Santander will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Santander’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Santander will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Santander directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Santander conveyancing panel solicitor.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Winslow solicitor - who is on the Skipton conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Skipton will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Skipton will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Winslow postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Skipton, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Winslow.
Do I need to pay for insurance to cover chancel repairs when buying a house in Winslow?
Unless a previous acquisition of the house took place after 12 October 2013 you could assume that lawyers handling conveyancing in Winslow to continue to suggest a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Winslow with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about the side-deal as it could affect my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
How does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my business premises in Winslow and how can you help?
The 1954 Act gives protection to commercial lessees, granting the right to make a request to court for a continuation of occupancy at the end of the lease term. There are certain specified grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are involved. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing solicitors who use the act for protection and assist with commercial conveyancing in Winslow
I have recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Winslow and the mortgage adviser that we are using recommended his conveyancer. They quoted £900 including VAT and disbursements. Does this sound reasonable?
Don't just go on a single estimate. You should obtain like-for-like quotes for your conveyancing in Winslow. Then pick one that you are comfortable with and just as important, is on the approved list of the lender that you have applied for a mortgage from.